President Joe Biden has called for federal agents to expedite their investigation into potential links between the Las Vegas explosion, which is being probed as a terror attack, and the New Orleans truck attack. The New Orleans incident resulted in the deaths of 14 people, including the attacker, Shamsud-Din Jabbar, who was killed in a shootout with police.
Biden stated, “As of now, they’ve just been briefed. They have not found any evidence of such a connection thus far. I’ve directed them to keep looking.”
The FBI identified Jabbar as the driver who crashed a rented truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. The bureau informed congressional lawmakers that they had no prior information about Jabbar before the attack. While Jabbar claimed to be “inspired” by ISIS, investigators have not found evidence that he was directed by the terrorist organization. New Orleans hospitals treated 37 victims injured in the attack, but the current status of those hospitalized remains unclear.
Authorities are also investigating a potential military connection between Jabbar and the Las Vegas suspect, identified as Matthew Livelsberger. FBI Deputy Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division, Christopher Raia, stated, “As you know, there’s also an FBI investigation in Las Vegas. We are following up on all potential leads and not ruling anything out. However, at this point, there is no definitive link between the attack here in New Orleans and the one in Las Vegas.”